Skip To Main Content

Header Top

Science Enrichment at Home

by Lower School Science and Social Studies Teacher Denise Boyd

Does your child love Science? Do you need to refresh your rainy day activities? Do you want to give memorable, cool, and educational gifts (to your child or others)?  Look no further.

I’ve had many parents say, “My child loves Science, what can I do to foster this at home?”. In my years as a teacher and parent I’ve come across a few incredible hands-on resources that check these boxes and more. Some of these are monthly subscriptions. If you choose to go the subscription route, these would be great to store away for rainy days, long summer break, birthday gifts, Christmas, Hanukkah, or just for fun. Some of these I have personal experiences with, others are on my wish list. Any way you go, knowing your child’s likes and dislikes and taking it a step further has already put him or her on the path of being a lifelong learner.

In no particular order:

  • Kiwi Co. offers hands-on STEAM kits that are categorized by age groups. They also offer different delivery frequencies to their subscription service. Some examples are an astronaut starter kit, glow string shooter, bottle rocket, remote controlled snake robot, and a levitating lantern.

  • Generation Genius Kits are fun and engaging all inclusive packages of videos that follow along with Science based experiments. Some examples include turning liquid into worms, drawing patterns that glow and liquid that changes color.

  • Woodworking kits introduce a wide variety of woodworking skills including learning to use small screws and nails, using sandpaper to round off edges, handling a hammer, learning the importance of making careful measurements, and so much more.

  • DIY 3D Solar Reality Puzzles combine problem solving skills, creativity and technology. This website has subscription options and other crafty categories of kits that may peak your child’s interest.

  • This Portable microscope gives 20-40x magnification and is the perfect gift for a fledgling scientist or engineer. This company also offers different types of microscope slide packages including “Bug edition”, “Zoo edition”, and “Tiny Animals edition” to extend the research into the microscopic world.

  • With this Microbiology experiment kit kids will learn how to grow their own (harmless) bacteria. It comes with 3 activities that explain and explore the mysterious world of microorganisms.

  • OuiSi Nature card game is an engaging pastime that celebrates the patterns, colors and shapes found in nature. This is a set of 210 visually-connecting photo cards, with games and activities that foster creativity and ignite curiosity about our beautiful planet, regardless of age. Each card has a connecting e-learning QR code.

  • Olya magazine subscription is a monthly printed magazine for STEM learning. Every issue is filled with a broad range of topics, from the latest scientific breakthroughs to centuries-old unsolved problems, to spark an interest in science and encourage creativity.

  • A Mail Order Mystery is an immersive story experience for kids that unfolds through a series of letters and objects. The envelopes could come from anyone, from anywhere, from any time. They could be long-lost relatives, museum curators, pirates, trolls or spies and they could be sending letters, newspaper articles, top-secret files, made-up magazines, wax-sealed missions and hand-written notes. They could be sending keys, locks, maps and clues of all kinds. There are puzzles to solve and codes to crack. All is revealed in the final package, a grand finale that includes an artifact or collection of keepsakes unique enough to be a cherished memento of the Mail Order Mystery experience. This one isn’t exactly STEM based but is a great problem solving activity and is extremely engaging.

  • Raddish Cooking, Baking, and Global Eats Kits bring STEM into the kitchen. This subscription based program will have your student reading recipes, collecting and using quality kitchen tools, learning kitchen safety, measuring, trying new foods, and discovering dishes from around the world. These are life skills that build confidence and foster adventurous eating.

  • YOUR RECYCLE BIN trash is absolutely free and probably has all different types of boxes, unique packaging materials, empty egg cartons and more that make great supplies for crafty creativity. Add some scissors, glue, and tape and let your student go to town! You could guide this exploration with ideas like: “Can you make a car? Can you make an ocean scene? Can you make shoes with these supplies?”

Please reach out to me with any questions and share with me your Science adventures.  Enjoy!